this question was thrown to me by my superior in one of the yearly reviews to see ‘who is where and what’. It is not a very easy question to say in black and white who you want to be. There are strings attached to your answers, so I wanted to take sime time before I shoot the arrow. I rely on my past experiences and the confidence to judge myself on the roles that I would like to play in any company I work in. I can contribute in the best possible way only if I find myself fit and confident.

So I walked my memory lane to find out who I wanted to be in the next two years. I analyzed myself from various angles. The first thing that came to my mind which was no suprise was my liking for the technology. The satisfaction in seeing the solution in the latest and hot technology gives me great satisfaction and I cannot explain why this thrills me. The thought of takign up managerial tasks did creep into my mind on several occasions, but as time passed, the better sense in my hooked me on to the place where I enjoy experimenting and working.

It is fascinating to learn creating solutions around the newest tools and languages in the industry, but it also brings challenges with it. But then every role has its own challenges. I gave my answer and I felt satisfied that I had given enough rationale behind my decision

I came to know about a new person today on the internet. I reached his blog through delicoius.com. The thing that amazed me is his ability to make it to google campus for an interview which people like me cannot even dare to dream. His recent blog about his inverview with google was a good read. There he wrote about all the rounds of the interview. Event though he couldn’t clear the interview, I didnt get a feeling that he was dissapointed, but he sounded very excited to have appeared in the interview and doesn’t regret being rejected.

Google is very particular about choosing the interview candidate. I didnt fail to see why they chose Peter for an interview. His “about me” page is full of names of the best programming languages that we have come to know. Per, C++ and what not!. I must say, that one must be lucky enough to have got exposure to these languages to know their power. I belong to the school of thought that to learn a language one must implemement it in a real project. The days of “hello world” application is bound to die!.

I am not that lucky to claim expertise in any programming language other than C#. I am old enough now to think about spending my time exploring perl or c++ owing to the limited time available in a single day. But I do read on internet about anything that interests me and anything that will keep me updated technically.

I have a few very good books that I have only skimmed through. I have been lazy to do some seroius reading. Whenever I see the names of these books popping up on blogs I feel that I have missed something. These books have been lying inside by bed since very long time and I they need my attention. It is not easy to take out time which is already short for me, but I know I have to do it this time!.

Dwindling stock market indexes, sad news of banks going backurupt, political assault on companie’s investment plans, terrorists going mad!. These are but a few of the discouraging news being watched and heard by educated human beings these days. It gives me a sense of worry when I compare this situation and its effect on future. The financial world is giving more worrying news through stock market crashes and bankrupt banks. Suddenly it seems like big financial institutions are running out of steam and dropped to their knees before the government.

The small investor’s dream of becoming rich quickly looks grim atleast for next few years. The banks will have to be bought by those with muscles of huge money and great confidence in what they are doing. The $700 bailout by US government will not bring quick respite. Unless someone like Warren Buffet thinks of salvaging these dooming companies, we are going to see such huge shutdowns and bankrupcies in the near future. This is the time when we have to think about more saving and less of unnecessary spendings. Get ready for jolts and if you are good with saving this jolt can only be made less effective.

The image of my school friend Vinod on the front page of a malayalam newspaper is till fresh in my mind. It will remain in mind forever, as it brings many painful memories to me. Just only a few years back, one sunday evening, Vinod had passed away with his parents in a bomb explosion that happened in a busy street of Delhi. Just a few days back a smilar bomb explosion happened again in the heart of delhi. There was not much of a difference in the video clippings that were streamed across the new channles. Some of those clips were live and some were recorded and replayed.

For who and for what reason these incidents are repeated are unknown. I was taking my family to a festival gathering when I heard the news from my father in law that a bomb had exploded near the place. I did not think twice and took a U turn. After we reached home, I switched on the TV to know what had happend.

It was the same scene of 2005 bomb explosion. There was blood everywhere, with motionless people either breathing or dead. For a moment I tried to feel like one of them and a shiver went down my spine. Someone who looked after their body for this long, lay motionless with bruises all over for no fault of theirs. There was nothing that fell from the skies that did that damage.

There is no word in the English dictionay that can be used to describe those who repeated this shameful act of cowardice. They have no such absorbing mind to know what these worrds meant for them. Human life is so cheap and abundant for them that they can cull them with so much of ease. The helpless victims will get treated, dead bodies will be burnt and the pain in the cries of affected families will be forgotten. The victims will be forgotten and so will be their sacrifices. The question is a big WHY?

Nothing has come to this site that sounds techi and proves that it has stuck to what the heading says. I thought of recording my own thoughs about innovative ideas that keep crossing my head when it is not very busy thinking about the daily chores. Some great ideas that took birth in my brain a few years back are now produts that are either being used in large scale by people around the world or they have been in the market as product but there are no consumers.

One good example of what I wanted and happed is an electronic book that when used looks exactly like a book but lacks the flexibility of a real book. I am concerned about environment and I just want to see my earth as it was a few years ago when human greed hadn’t affected its beauty. I started looking into small things that we do on daily basis that has direct or indirect affect on the environment.

Looking at the daily amout of paper beign consumed for newspaper, it makes me wonder where such a huge amount of paper comes from. It must be tree whose pulp is squeezed out and turned into paper. Why has not been no breakthrough in technology that can substitue a paper or wood itself for that matter. Looks like a few industry would shut its door forever if such a technology was ever envisoned or promised to be a success. The money makes all the difference after all.

An electronic newspaper in ever aspect would reduce the number of trees that are being killed paper. But it also brings with the the harzards of manufacturing materials used in such eletronic devices. For example the ubiquious plastic that when burned releases harmful chemicals into the environment.

Science has no doubt advanced very much, but humans still have macro problems that science should provide soultions for. The electronic book has already been born but its acceptance is still meagre. There are sacrifices to be made by human beings so that they see a better world for their children. There is a requirment for widespread awarness about technlogies like electonic book. There is a cost attached to using such innovative technologies, but it can be brought down through mass production. We have seen this phenomena in the Personal COmputers. The more advance the PC technology is getting, more is its acceptance. This has brought down its cost over the past years. I wish if the same thing happens for other technolgies.

It is not easy to get something off your memory when it is weird and strange. My childhood friend lives in a palce called Southall. This is the name every Indian should remember if they are new to London. It is the hub of activities where you will see more Indians behaving like Indians and carrying out their daily business activities. You can feel the true Indian busy market in Southall. There are shops for clothes to groceries everywhere. Most of these shops are owned by Indians, who are mostly Sikhs. I met a few pakistanis also who were very warm and welcoming.

You would agree with me if I call it ‘Chandni Chowk’ or ‘Karol Bagh’ of London. You will not realize it is London until you see the beautiful buses and trendy cars. The Indian car drivers seem so cool and patient behind their wheels. It seems Indians know about discipline, but they are too childish at their home.

These are but a few thought that came out of my mind after I visited Southall on a few occassions. I may have something interesting to share for my blog in the coming days.

I have been in love with anything happening around English, though I couldn’t seriously take on English literature. When it is English, it has to be England or it is the England English that Indians are too familar with.

It is really amazing to realize sometimes how your life unfolds opportunities for you when you least expected of it. Three years back, I could have only dreamt of going anywhere outside my own country, forget about London.

It was a kind of miracle for me to get not just one but three opportunities to come to London and stay here for very short durations and work in this lovely and warm country. Something which I saw in dreams were all in front of my eyes. I was seeing the colour of English culture all around me.

There is something about London that attacts such a mamooth of visitors ever year. There is something in the management of the UK Govt. that keeps everything still in its place despite so many people with different background and cultural experiences living in and out of every corner of this country.

Weather isn’t too bad, though some sudden and unexpected cool breeze may force you to consider an umbrella or a jacket all the while you are away from your home. I havent come across any place here that I can complain about too much. Central London still has its shine though it is getting more crowded with visitors.